Dovetailing rather neatly with Kevin Kelly’s piece on technological literacy last week, Wired has an oddly-formatted but provocative piece that they’ve entitled “7 Essential Skills That You Didn’t Learn In College“. Those seven skills are:
- Statistical Literacy: Making sense of today’s data-driven world
- Post-State Diplomacy: Power and politics, sans government
- Remix Culture: Samples, mashups, and mixes
- Applied Cognition: The neuroscience you need
- Writing for New Forms: Self-expression in 140 characters
- Waste Studies: Understanding end-to-end economics
- Domestic Tech: How to use the world as your lab
All fairly pertinent, and very Futurismic as well… though I’m not sure how “essential” the remix culture aspect is. I’m inclined to think – perhaps uncharitably – that anyone aspiring to be an artist or creator who hasn’t already grasped those basic truths by observing the world around them is never going to get it, no matter how clearly you spell it out for them. Am I being unfair?
It’s a decent enough list, but not exhaustive by any means – what would you add to it? Or, equally, what would you remove?